See also:

• COLIC (from the Gr. K6Aov or KwAov, the large intestine)

COLIC (from the Gr. K6Aov or KwAov, the large See also:

• INTESTINE (Lat. intestinus, internal, usually in neuter plural intestina. from intus, within)

intestine)  , a See also:

• TERM

term in See also:

• MEDICINE

medicine of very indefinite meaning, used by physicians outside See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England for any paroxysmal abdominal See also:

• PAIN (from Lat. poena, Gr. robin, penalty, that which must be paid: O. Fr. peine)
• PAIN, BARRY (1867– )

pain, but generally limited in England to a sudden See also:

• SHARP, GRANVILLE (1735-1813)
• SHARP, JAMES (1618-1679)
• SHARP, JOHN (1645-1714)
• SHARP, RICHARD (1759-1835)
• SHARP, WILLIAM (1749-1824)
• SHARP, WILLIAM (1856-1905)

sharp pain having its origin in the See also:

• PELVIS (Lat. for " basin," cf. Gr. 7rEX?a )

pelvis of the See also:

• KIDNEY

kidney, the ureter, See also:

• GALL (a word common to many Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch gal, and Ger. Galle; the Indo-European root appears in Gr. xoXi,, and Lat. fel; possibly connected with " yellow," with reference to the colour of bile)
• GALL, FRANZ JOSEPH (1758-1828)

gall-See also:

• BLADDER (from A.S. blaeddre, connected with bl¢wan, to blow, cf. Ger. blase)

bladder, bile-ducts or See also:

• INTESTINE (Lat. intestinus, internal, usually in neuter plural intestina. from intus, within)

intestine . Thus it is customary to speak of renal, biliary or intestinal See also:

• COLIC (from the Gr. K6Aov or KwAov, the large intestine)

colic . There is a growing tendency, however, among professional men of to-See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day, to restrict the use of the word to a pain produced by the contraction of the See also:

• MUSCULAR

muscular walls of any of the hollow viscera of which the See also:

• APERTURE (from Lat. aperire, to open)

aperture has become more or less occluded, temporarily or otherwise . For renal and biliary colic, see the articles KIDNEY DISEASES and See also:

• LIVER (O. Eng. lifer; cf. cognate forms, Dutch lever, Ger. Leber, Swed. lefver, &c.; the O. H. Ger. forms are libara, lipora, &c.; the Teut. word has been connected with Gr. i'prap and Lat. jecur)

LIVER, only intestinal colic being treated in this See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place . In infants, usually those who are " See also:

• BOTTLE (Fr. bouteille, from a diminutive of the Lat. butta, a flask; cf. Eng. " butt ")

bottle-fed," colic is exceedingly See also:

• COMMON

common, and is shown by the See also:

• DRAWING

drawing up of their legs, their restlessness and their continuous cries . Among adults one of the most serious causes is that due to See also:

• LEAD
• LEAD (pronounced iced)

lead-poisoning and known as lead colic (Syn. painters' colic, colica Pictonum, See also:

• DEVONSHIRE (DEvoN)
• DEVONSHIRE, EARLS AND DUKES OF

Devonshire colic), from its having been clearly ascertained to be due to the absorption of lead into the See also:

• SYSTEM

system (see LEAD-POISONING) . This disease had been observed and described See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long before its cause was discovered . Its occurrence in an epidemic See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form among the inhabitants of See also:

• POITOU

Poitou was re-corded by See also:

• FRANCOIS (1558-1614)

Francois Citois (1572–1652) in 1617, under the See also:

• TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of Novus et popularis apud Pictones dolor colicus biliosus . The disease was thereafter termed colica Pictonum . It was supposed to be due to the acidity of the native wines, but it was afterwards found to depend on lead contained in them . A similar epidemic See also:

• BROKE, or BROOKE, ARTHUR (d. 1563)
• BROKE, SIR PHILIP BOWES VERE, BART

broke out in certain parts of See also:

• GERMANY
• GERMANY (Ger. Deutschland)

Germany in the end of the 17th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, and was at the See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time believed by various physicians to be caused by the admixture of See also:

• ACID (from the Lat. root ac-, sharp; acere, to be sour)

acid wines with litharge to sweeten them . About the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle of the 18th century this disease, which had long been known to prevail in Devonshire, was carefully investigated by See also:

• SIR

Sir See also:

• GEORGE
• GEORGE, 8TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (1787-1876)
• GEORGE, HENRY (1839—1897)
• GEORGE, LAKE
• GEORGE, SAINT (d. 303)

George See also:

• BAKER, HENRY (1698-1774)
• BAKER, SIR BENJAMIN (1840-1907)
• BAKER, SIR RICHARD (1568-1644/5)
• BAKER, SIR SAMUEL WHITE (1821-1893)
• BAKER, THOMAS (1656-1740)
• BAKER, VALENTINE [BAKER PASHA] (1827-1887)

Baker (1722–1809), who succeeded in tracing it unmistakably to the contamination of the native beverage, See also:

• CIDER (q.v.)
• CIDER, or CYDER (from the Fr. cidre, derived from the Lat. sicera or cisera, Gr. mucepa, Heb. shade, strong drink)

cider, with lead, either accidentally from the leadwork of the vats and other apparatus for preparing the liquor, or from its being sweetened with litharge .

In Germany a similar colic resulting from the absorption of See also:

• COPPER (symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.1, H=1, or 63.6, O = 16)

copper occurs, but it is almost unknown in England . The simplest form of colic is that arising from habitual See also:

• CONSTIPATION (from Lat. constipare, to press closely together, whence also the adjective " costive ")

constipation, the muscular See also:

• WALL (O. Eng. weal, weall, Mid. Eng. wal, wane, adapted from Lat. vallum, rampart; the original O. Eng. word for a wall was wag or tenth)
• WALL, RICHARD (1694-1778)

wall of the' intestines contracting painfully to overcome the resistance of hardened scybalous masses of faeces, which cause more or less obstruction to the onward passage of the intestinal contents . Another equally common cause is that due to irritating or indigestible See also:

• FOOD
• FOOD (like the verb " to feed," from a Teutonic root, whence O. Eng. foda; cf. " fodder "; connected with Gr. lrareicOae, to feed)

food such as apples, See also:

• PEARS

pears or nuts, heavy pastry, See also:

• MEAT

meat pies and puddings, &c . It may then be associated with either constipation or See also:

• DIARRHOEA (from Gr. &Q, through, pfw, flow)

diarrhoea, though the latter is the more common . It may result from any form of See also:

• ENTERITIS (Gr. Evrepov, intestine)

enteritis as See also:

• SIMPLE

simple, mucous and ulcerative colitis, or an intestinal See also:

• MALIGNANT (Lat. malignus, evil-disposed, from maligenus)

malignant growth . The presence of ascaris lumbricoides may, by reflex See also:

• ACTION

action, set up a very painful See also:

• NERVOUS

nervous spasm; and certain forms of See also:

• INFLUENZA (syn. " grip," la grippe)

influenza (q.v.) are ushered in by colic of a very pronounced type . Many physicians describe a rheumatic colic due to See also:

• COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold and See also:

• DAMP

damp, and among See also:

• WOMEN

women disease of the pelvic See also:

• ORGANS

organs may give rise to an exactly similar pain . There are also those forms of colic which must be classed as functional or neuralgic, though this view of the See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case must never be accepted until every other possible cause is found to be untenable . From this See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of a few of the commoner causes of the trouble, it will be clear that colic is merely a symptom of disease, not a disease in itself, and that no diagnosis has been made until the cause of the pain has been determined . Intestinal colic is paroxysmal, usually both beginning and ending suddenly . The pain is generally referred to the neighbourhood of the umbilicus, and may radiate all over the See also:

• ABDOMEN (a Latin word, either from abdere, to hide, or from a form adipomen, from adeps, fat)

abdomen . It varies in intensity from a slight momentary discomfort to a pain so severe as to cause the patient to shriek or even to break out into a cold clammy sweat .

It is usually relieved by pressure, and this point is one which See also:

• AIDS

aids in the See also:

• DIFFERENTIAL

differential diagnosis between a simple colic and See also:

• PERITONITIS

peritonitis, the pain of the latter being increased by pressure . But should the colic be due to a malignant growth, or should the intestines be distended with See also:

• GAS

gas, pressure will probably increase the pain . The temperature is usually subnormal, but may be slightly raised, and the See also:

• PULSE

pulse is in proportion . In the treatment of simple colic the patient must be confined to See also:

• BED
• BED (a common Teutonic word, cf. German Bett, probably connected with the Indo-European root bhodh, seen in the Lat. fodere, to dig; so " a dug-out place " for safe resting, or in the same sense as a garden " bed ")

bed, hot fomentations applied to the abdomen and a purge administered, a few drops of See also:

• LAUDANUM

laudanum being added when the pain is exceptionally severe . But the whole difficulty lies in making the differential diagnosis . Acute intestinal obstruction (ileus) begins just as an attack of simple colic, but the rapid increase of illness, frequent vomiting, anxious countenance, and still more the See also:

• CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition of the pulse, warn a trained observer of the far more serious See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state . See also:

• APPENDICITIS

Appendicitis and peritonitis, as also the gastric crises of locomotor ataxy, must all be excluded .